A nomadic access mechanism for enabling dynamic video surveillance over IEEE 802.15.4 networks

IEEE 802.15.4 networking technology is designed to be the common standard for integrating WSN applications in heterogeneous environments. However, applications considering mobile nodes along with strict temporal requirements, such as those required for video transmission, are an unexplored field for this technology. These applications involve different challenges and issues that the direct employment of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard does not resolve. Therefore, in this paper a cross-layer mechanism consisting of application and medium access arbitration is presented, enabling the efficient connection and operation of mobile nodes together with the transmission of video flows. The proposed mechanism is evaluated via simulation and its feasibility checked by means of a first prototype. The study of power consumption is also taken into account and so are the quality of service parameters and the human quality perception of the received video stream. The results obtained are presented and further discussed. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.